by Dan Bickley, Arizona Republic

by Dan Bickley, Arizona Republic

Divorces don't happen overnight. Most times, you can hear them coming.

Loose comments? A chilly change in tone? If you're a Phoenix Coyotes fan, you were jolted by both before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Commissioner Gary Bettman said time was running short on the city of Glendale. He said "stuff's gonna happen" in the next two weeks. He even tossed out the visual of a boarded-up Jobing.com Arena.

Not what you expect from a life partner.

Meanwhile, deputy commissioner Bill Daly acknowledged for the first time that the Coyotes might not be playing in Arizona next season. He said the puck was in Glendale's end, assuming all city council members actually would catch the metaphor.

It sounded a lot better when we were on the 1-yard line.

"What they were saying is that they've brought us their candidate," Glendale city councilman Gary Sherwood said. "And it's up to us to come up with an arena management deal, period."

Sherwood knows what he's doing. He understands the real costs and the status blow of losing a hockey team. He says Westgate just doesn't work without the Coyotes, and that most businesses would close their doors within a month. So he won't quibble with Bettman's fear of a boarded-up arena.

But the NHL always has requested silence from the city in times such as this, so why pop off now? Harsh words to inject a sense of urgency? Or the first sounds of goodbye?

Though there is no hard deadline, there's also no time for hard feelings. Sherwood was told a deal essentially would have to be on the tracks - not necessarily done, but moving fast and forward - before the NHL Board of Governors meeting June 27.

That's when Bettman said "stuff is gonna happen."

"If we're not closer than we are now, they said we'll have to look at it for what it is, and admit this just isn't working," Sherwood said.

For Sherwood, that makes Tuesday's scheduled council meeting extremely important. But there's a new pipe dream to consider, a mystery candidate that Sherwood would not reveal, one with a lot of cash and better terms for his city.

The mystery buyer told Sherwood he'd have his bid together by Friday. It sounded too good to be true.

I'll pause while you roll your eyes.

"But that's part of the problem," Sherwood said. "There are other groups lurking that the NHL hasn't brought to us. They have their one candidate. And the way I look at it is, maybe Renaissance (Sports and Entertainment) is the best for the NHL, but maybe only second- or third-best for Glendale."

Another source said the mystery buyer is real and would bring real money to the table. Renaissance's deal is heavy on loans, short on equity, and no person has more than a $10 million stake in the game. They want an out clause after four to five years, creating fears that they conceivably could run the team into the ground and bail.

If there's a better option for Glendale, the NHL should produce that party immediately. Yet the city council needs to decide in the next two weeks.

"And I'm not sure if we have four votes yet," Sherwood said.

The NHL has been a loyal partner. They've stood by the Valley, for better and for worse. But Bettman's words were a sobering reminder:

The NHL is done running this franchise. The tough words have brought transparency to their relationship with Glendale. Bettman wouldn't talk about his options, but Seattle and Quebec City are believed to be lurking threats. A report from Seattle said the chilling system and ice-making equipment are currently operational at KeyArena, meaning that city temporarily could house a hockey team next season.

Bettman also wouldn't rule out putting the team on a "hiatus," an absurd idea that would put a franchise on the shelf until a new home is found, requiring some kind of player dispersal draft.

That's a bluff. The rest of his words? Not so much.

"Nothing Commissoner Bettman said comes as a surprise," Coyotes general manager Don Maloney said. "We are coming to the finish, to the end game here."

Maloney said he's optimistic. But Dave Tippett is on the sideline, waiting for clarity. Players fear that Tippett - one of the NHL's best coaches - will end up back in Dallas, returning to a franchise that wants to atone for letting him go in the first place.

Hockey fans in Arizona are also waiting, ready for the liberation that comes with any kind of resolution. But for the NHL, the waiting is over.

The puck is in Glendale's end. After all these years, do they know how to get out of their own zone before the horn sounds?